The spark off the bench......

The bench needs a vet to come in and score some buckets consistently Im probably going to take a lot of heat for this but I t would be great if that veteran spark would be Vince Carter.... it would be pretty awesome having he and Ross playing side by side when the starters need rest.

Im all for Vinsanity ending his career in the place he had his best years.

I think a lot of the heat you would take from this suggestion is not because of the idea of VC coming back to T.O., but because he would cut into Ross' already limited minutes. Unless of course, a miracle occurs and Alan Anderson gets his minutes cut.

"We only have one rule on this team. What is that rule? E.L.E. That's right's, E.L.E, and what does E.L.E. stand for? EVERYBODY LOVE EVERYBODY. Right there up on the wall, because this isn't just a basketball team, this is a lifestyle. ~ Jackie Moon

Check his games when he is getting consistent minutes. A few stinkers but he is still a rookie.

Look since January 30. He had a bad game versus the Hawks and has been unheard of since. Granted the Gay trade also went down but he has been buried. It is pretty clear his confidence is shot and getting a few first half minutes to make a mistake and find the bench is hardly helping. When he was playing well this year he is comparable to AA and the kid is just adjusting to the NBA.

The fact his skill set is a perfect compliment to DD and Gay is just more cause for frustration.

The Raptors have that guy in Ross. I've always thought he'd be a great 3 and D guy off the bench at the minimum.

I've been crapping on Casey a lot of late but his handling of Ross has been atrocious when you consider the alternative in AA.

Nothing this team does makes much sense. The drafting and handling of Ross is just another in a long list of FAIL. How this team handles rookies in general is pretty messed up. If you look at the good teams in the league and how they deal with rookies, it is night and day.

The Ross stuff reminds me a lot of the Ed Davis situation where they picked a guy I'm not sure they really wanted and never really gave him an opportunity. I see the same thing happening with Ross. Especially since you have Gay and Derozan eating up 70+ minutes a game. Not much left.

Nothing this team does makes much sense. The drafting and handling of Ross is just another in a long list of FAIL. How this team handles rookies in general is pretty messed up. If you look at the good teams in the league and how they deal with rookies, it is night and day.

The Ross stuff reminds me a lot of the Ed Davis situation where they picked a guy I'm not sure they really wanted and never really gave him an opportunity. I see the same thing happening with Ross. Especially since you have Gay and Derozan eating up 70+ minutes a game. Not much left.

Nothing this team does makes much sense. The drafting and handling of Ross is just another in a long list of FAIL. How this team handles rookies in general is pretty messed up. If you look at the good teams in the league and how they deal with rookies, it is night and day.

The Ross stuff reminds me a lot of the Ed Davis situation where they picked a guy I'm not sure they really wanted and never really gave him an opportunity. I see the same thing happening with Ross. Especially since you have Gay and Derozan eating up 70+ minutes a game. Not much left.

THe problem isn't even just minutes, strictly speaking....It's like you say, they maybe kind of didn't really want him, but were ok with picking him. They don't really have a vision for his role on the team, which is exactly what it seemed like with Davis, so he's on a stupidly short leash because the team doesn't know what htey want from him.

Gay and Demar get plenty of minutes, but when Ross had a role, as Matt52 pointed out, he played well (albeit with up and down shooting and some rookie mistakes). He was a solid D and shooting guy, and gave very similar positives as AA. In fact, and even more since the Gay trade, where defending SFs has been less an issue, the team has had problems guarding quick perimeter players and shooters that run around screens. Ross is good at both of these things. I call BULLSHIT on Casey's use of role cards. Because basically, he was fulfiilling his role then had a couple of bad games and hasn't been allowed to retrieve his role, which would fit better with the current roster. AA is actually a liability against a lot of smaller lineups. He's painfully slow against quicker players (hence the infamous 10 ft of space on that Irving buzzer-beater), and also painfully slow/unexplosive (is that a word? it is now) going end to end and finishing at the rim.

God, just writing these posts about Casey's handling of Ross is making me more and more upset every game that passes and he keeps the same stupidly short leash on him. Alan Anderson should only see the floor again this season for foul trouble and injuries.

Wouldnt be surprised If Telfair gets a shot tonight (former team) Ross isnt at the level yet to be our spark off the bench the 6th man but no doubt he will eventually. Pretty sure Bargs will be starting again for the rest of the season gotta up that value.

Nothing this team does makes much sense. The drafting and handling of Ross is just another in a long list of FAIL. How this team handles rookies in general is pretty messed up. If you look at the good teams in the league and how they deal with rookies, it is night and day.

The Ross stuff reminds me a lot of the Ed Davis situation where they picked a guy I'm not sure they really wanted and never really gave him an opportunity. I see the same thing happening with Ross. Especially since you have Gay and Derozan eating up 70+ minutes a game. Not much left.

I think Lucas is not given enough credit for being a decent "spark off the bench." His 3PT shooting has been great and consistent. I know he's not the best at setting up teammates, but I think the shortcomings of the second unit lately cannot be pinned on him so much. AA's inconsistency and TR's inability to make his own shot have made Lucas look worse than he actually is. I think he's a great backup PG, although I think it is also wise to have a pass-first option, such as Telfair, on hand.

Bargnani has obviously failed in this role. If I were Casey I'd start Bargs the rest of the season and demand that BC trade him or else.

Finally, I don't see any harm in starting Gay with TRoss and brinding in DeRozan against second units largely, giving him 26-30 minutes of course. This would seem to me to be a sensible way to introduce rookies to the NBA level of play, not to mention this is exactly what they've been doing with JVal. DeMar won't give a shit. This season is already over.

Nothing this team does makes much sense. The drafting and handling of Ross is just another in a long list of FAIL. How this team handles rookies in general is pretty messed up. If you look at the good teams in the league and how they deal with rookies, it is night and day.

The Ross stuff reminds me a lot of the Ed Davis situation where they picked a guy I'm not sure they really wanted and never really gave him an opportunity. I see the same thing happening with Ross. Especially since you have Gay and Derozan eating up 70+ minutes a game. Not much left.

I think Lucas is not given enough credit for being a decent "spark off the bench." His 3PT shooting has been great and consistent. I know he's not the best at setting up teammates, but I think the shortcomings of the second unit lately cannot be pinned on him so much. AA's inconsistency and TR's inability to make his own shot have made Lucas look worse than he actually is. I think he's a great backup PG, although I think it is also wise to have a pass-first option, such as Telfair, on hand.

Bargnani has obviously failed in this role. If I were Casey I'd start Bargs the rest of the season and demand that BC trade him or else.

Finally, I don't see any harm in starting Gay with TRoss and brinding in DeRozan against second units largely, giving him 26-30 minutes of course. This would seem to me to be a sensible way to introduce rookies to the NBA level of play, not to mention this is exactly what they've been doing with JVal. DeMar won't give a shit. This season is already over.

Although the bold seems logical, this will NEVER happen as long as Casey is head coach.

I think Lucas is not given enough credit for being a decent "spark off the bench." His 3PT shooting has been great and consistent. I know he's not the best at setting up teammates, but I think the shortcomings of the second unit lately cannot be pinned on him so much. AA's inconsistency and TR's inability to make his own shot have made Lucas look worse than he actually is. I think he's a great backup PG, although I think it is also wise to have a pass-first option, such as Telfair, on hand.

Disagree. It is the point guard's job to get the offence rolling and his teammates good looks. It's hard to create your own look, and to ask a rookie like Ross to do that isn't very reasonable. But to ask a veteran point guard to do that is beyond reasonable and is really to be expected. I would never call Lucas a great back-up PG. He could be a great 3rd stringer, but he isn't a good back-up. I'd like to see Telfair get more play down the stretch. We need someone to help the players on the 2nd unit get going, and that will never be JL3. The big picture is that it is more beneficial to this team for players like Ross to get good touches on offence to build upon than for Lucas to shoot the lights out in another losing effort.

Disagree. It is the point guard's job to get the offence rolling and his teammates good looks. It's hard to create your own look, and to ask a rookie like Ross to do that isn't very reasonable. But to ask a veteran point guard to do that is beyond reasonable and is really to be expected. I would never call Lucas a great back-up PG. He could be a great 3rd stringer, but he isn't a good back-up. I'd like to see Telfair get more play down the stretch. We need someone to help the players on the 2nd unit get going, and that will never be JL3. The big picture is that it is more beneficial to this team for players like Ross to get good touches on offence to build upon than for Lucas to shoot the lights out in another losing effort.